Visit to University Of Waterloo

Last week I was on an CIA accreditation panel visiting the University of Waterloo.  I was an enjoyable, interesting and educational trip.  A few quick take aways from  my perspective.

1. I was jealous of their resources.  With their large faculty Waterloo has the luxury to cover topics on a regular basis that we at UofR can cover in an occasional directed reading course. 
2. There are advantages to being small!!  The class sizes at Waterloo are a challenge for the faculty - 150 in the fourth year classes is typical.  The sheer bulk size prevents the instructors from using some of their preferred teaching techniques such as project work, student presentations and group work.  These are techniques that the smaller class sizes at UofR allow us to use on a regular basis.
3. It was nice to hear about a UofR grad - Will Du - from a co-worker of his who was on the panel.  Will's working at SunLife in Waterloo and it sounds like he's doing very well there.  It ways a lot for the UofR program that Sun hired Will over Waterloo grads just a few miles away.  Great West and ManuLife have also hired UofR grads over students from the big programs.

Accreditation Process Continues

The CIA's Accreditation panel has a busy August and a busy September to follow.  This month I am involved in Accreditation Panels at Waterloo and Concordia.  All reports indicate that we made a favourable impression with the AP that visited the U of R in August but we'll hear no word on our status until later this fall.

The New term Starts Today

Classes start on Wednesday the 7th, but not til the 8th for the ACSC classes which run Tuesdays and Thursdays only.  Enrolment is up with 33 students registered in ACSC116, the largest class for several years.  We have 4 ACSC classes running this Fall 116 (myself), 317 (Larry Miller), 417 (Taehan Bae) and 419 (myself again).


I had a walk around campus today, and it's absolutely awash in eager young faces.  Here's hoping for a good Fall semester for everyone.